Pakistan Grants Bail to FBI Agent

An FBI agent detained in Pakistan for trying to carry ammunition onto a flight is set to be released on bail.

The American was arrested Monday after authorities at the Karachi airport found he was carrying 15 bullets for a 9 millimeter handgun and three knives during routine checks. Authorities say he was bound for the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Local officials tell VOA on Thursday that the American will be freed as soon as he submits a surety bond of $10,000.

Pakistani police say the man was detained after failing to provide any documentation he had legal permission to carry the bullets.

In Washington Wednesday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed the detention. She did not name the man but said he was an FBI agent on a "temporary duty assignment to provide routine assistance to the legal attache at the U.S. mission.''

The Airport Security Force in Karachi detained the man before handing him over to police. He is charged with carrying illegal ammunition, which carries a maximum 14-year sentence.

The incident comes at a time of relative calm in the sometimes strained relationship between the United States and Pakistan, which have conducted joint efforts against terrorism.

The 2011 fatal shooting of two Pakistani men by CIA contractor Raymond Davis in the eastern city of Lahore sparked a diplomatic crisis between the countries.

A Pakistani court eventually freed Davis following a payment of $2 million to the families of those killed.